Lighting device.



E. E. TAGGART.

LIGHTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION men MAY 20, 1916.

1,212,71 1. Patented Jan. 16,1917.

mr NORRIS PETERS co.. PND70-L|YHO.. wlsmm: mm o. c.

ELMER E. TAGGART, OFSYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

LIGHTING nnvrcn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 16, 1917.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ELMER E. TAGGART, a citizen of the United States, residing at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Lighting Devices, of whichthe following is a specification.

The invention relates to igniters of that class in which a sparking metal or alloy is momentarily acted upon by an abrading surface to produce'a flow of sparks directed into a stream of gas or vapor issuing from an adjacent burner, and relates more particularly to the mechanism for actuating the abrading element.

The object of the invention is to provide simple, easily operated means whereby an abrading wheel may be caused to rotate in one direction only in the production of the desired shower of sparks, thus lessening the wear on the alloy due to idle movements of such wheel in the opposite direction, and which shall consist of few parts capable of being economically manufactured and assembled. V

The invention consists'in certain novel features of arran ement and details of construction by whic the above objects are attained, tobe hereinafter described and claimed.

The accompanying drawings form a part of thisspecification and show an approved form of the invention.

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the improved lighter attached to a burner. Fig. 2 is a corresponding plan view. The remaining figures are on a greatly exaggerated scale and show the sparking mechanism alone. Fig. 3 is a vertical section. Fig. 4

is a horizontal section taken on the line 4l4 in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a similar section taken on the line 55 in Fig. 3, and partly in plan view.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

A isa burner, shown as adapted to serve with acetylene, and mounted upon a suitable fixture, not shown.

B is a tubular casing having arms B extending laterally therefrom, shaped to encircle the base of the burner and be clamped firmly thereto by a bolt 13 and thus support the casing firmly in a vertical position parallel with and adjacent to the burner. The

casing B carries the igniting mechanism and its operatlng means.

l/V1th1n the caslng at its upper end is fixed a collar C having acentral opening 0, and at the lower end is a plug D loosely mounted within the casing and having a radial arm D extending through a circumferential slot 6 in the casing and carrying a head or knob D by which the plug may be partially rotated or oscillated in the casing to an extent determined by the length of the slot 6.

F is a rod extending axially of the casing B, through the opening 0 in the collar C and inclosing the extreme upper end of the casing B. The abradingwheel H is loosely mounted onthe rod F and is retained thereon by the head F formed by upsetting the end of the rod.

On a bracket J secured to the upper end of the casing B, is atube or carrier J extending radially from the wheel H with its inner end lying close to the latter. The carrier receives a short cylinder or pencil M of the sparking material and presents it to the roughened edge of the wheel inposition tobe'acted upon by such abrading surface, and

the carrier J is so located angularly rela-' tively to the vertical plane of the burner and casing as to direct the tangential stream of sparks approximately to the center of the burner when the wheel is partially rotated in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2.

Theexposed end of the pencil M is held in strong frictional contact with the wheel H by the expansive force of a helical spring J 2 inclosed in the carrier J and abutting at one end against the pencil M and at the other against a screw plug J by which the tension of the spring may be varied, or increased as the length of the pencil is reduced by abrasion.

The clutch member G is a disk fixed on the rod F and has in its edge a series of notches deeply cut at one end, bounded by the radial wall 9, and diminishing in depth toward the periphery, by the curved wall 9 Each notch receives a rolling member which may be a ball but is shown as a short vertical roller L adapted to coact with the inner face ofthe annular flange H of the wheel H and engage such flange when forced into the angular space between the flange and the curved wall 9 of the recess or notch. The deep ends of the notches, determined by the length of the radial walls 9, are large enough to permit the member G to be rotated in one direction and carry the rollers L idly without engaging the flange H and the wheel H remains stationary held by the engagement therewith of the pencil M, but a return movement, in the opposite direction, crowds the rollers into the narrowing portions of the notches and into close frictional engagement with the flange H and thus compels the latter and its wheel H to rotate.

N is a helical spring encircling the rod I inclosed in the casing B, and having at its upper end an arm N received in a recess or hole 0 in the fixed collar C, and an arm N at the lower end received in a recess d in the loose plug D, and arranged to resist by its torsional force the rotation of the rod F in one direction, and when thus forcibly turned and released, to return the rod rapidly to the original position carrying with it the wheel H through the action of the clutch member G and rollers L with the flange H.

In operating the lighter the arm D is forced by the fingers to a position at or near the end of the slot 6, this movement increases the tension of the spring N and partiallyrotates the clutch member G, the wheel I-I remaining stationary; the arm D is then suddenly released, the spring and'induces a sharp return movement, partially rotates the rod F and through the engagement of the rollers L with the flange H causes a rapid partial rotation of the wheel H in contact with the pencil M and produces the desired stream of sparks.

Each operation presents a fresh peripheral portion of the abrading wheel to the pencil, and the clutch mechanism employed obviates the complications due to vertical movements of the parts, thus permitting the structure to be simplified and accomplishing a corresponding saving in the cost of manufacture.

1. In a device ofthe character set forth, a loosely mounted rotatable abrading wheel, a carrier adapted to present a body of sparking material thereto in frictional contact therewith, an annular flange on said wheel,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for N asserts itself a clutch member inclosed by said flange and and to coact with said clutch member and engage said flange and rotate said wheel when said clutch member is rotated in the opposite direction, manually operated means for partially rotating said clutch member in such one direction, and spring actuated means for partially rotating said clutch member in such opposite direction when such manually operated means is released.

2. In a device of the character set forth, a loosely mounted rotatable abrading wheel, a carrier adapted to present a body of sparking material thereto in frictional contact therewith, an annular flange on said wheel, a clutch member inclosed by said flange and having angular peripheral notches, rolling members in such notches adapted to move idly with said clutch member and out of engagement with said flange when said clutch member is rotated in one direction, and to coact with said clutch member and engage said flange and rotate said wheel when said clutch member is rotated in the opposite direction, manually operated means'for partially rotating said clutch member in such one direction, and a torsional spring opposing such manual rotation and serving to rotate said clutch member in such opposite direction when said manually operated means is released] 7 3. In a device of the character'set forth, a tubular casing, a fixed collar therein at one end, a plug loosely inclosed in the other end, an arm on said plug extending through a circumferential slot in said casing, a torsional spring attached at one end to said collar and at the other to said plug, a rod fixed in said plug and extending axially of said casing and through said collar, a clutch member fixed on said rod and having angular peripheral notches, 'a rotatable abrading wheel loosely mounted on said rod, an annular flange on ,said wheel inclosing said clutch member, rolling members in such notches adapted to coact with said clutch member and flange, and a carrier adapted to contain a body of sparking material and present it to said wheel in frictional contact with the latter.

In testimony that I claim the invention above set forth I afiix my signature.

ELMER E. TAGGART. 

